What does lade mean?
Lade is an old-fashioned verb meaning to load, especially to place goods or cargo aboard a ship or another vehicle. In sentences such as “lade the ship with timber,” it evokes the work of porters, merchants, and sailors, giving the word a distinctly maritime and historical atmosphere. Although it remains understandable in modern English, it is much less usual than the simpler verb load. Lade can also convey the idea of filling something to capacity, though that use is less frequent. Its past tense and gerund are laded and lading, while laden is a related participial and adjective form meaning heavily loaded. In contemporary writing, load is normally preferred, but lade can be effective in historical narration, literary prose, or deliberately archaic language.
verbTo load, especially to put cargo aboard a ship or other vehicle. The word is now chiefly archaic or literary.
- To load a ship, vehicle, or other carrier with goods or cargo.
- To fill or furnish something, especially with a substantial quantity.
"The crew prepared to lade the ship with grain and timber."
"They arrived at the harbor to lade the vessel with sacks of grain."
"The cart was laded with hay and covered for the journey."
The word lade survives mainly in the image of ships being loaded, a practice now so old-fashioned that the verb itself sounds like a maritime command from another age.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does lade come from?
Lade comes through Middle English from Old English hladan, meaning “to load,” a Germanic verb with close relatives in Dutch laden and German laden. The modern form lade continued the older sense of loading goods onto a ship, and the related form laden developed as its participle and later as an adjective meaning “carrying a load.” The verb belongs to a wider Germanic vocabulary of loading and freightage, including the modern English word load.
Related word forms
How lade is actually used
Lade is archaic and literary in modern English. It is normally transitive and is most naturally associated with loading ships or other cargo carriers; modern speakers generally use load instead.
Easily confused with lade
Laid is the past tense and past participle of lay, meaning to place something down, whereas lade is an archaic verb meaning to load a ship or vehicle.
Lead is pronounced /liːd/ and means to guide or be in front, while lade is pronounced /leɪd/ and means to load cargo.